Cooling member for battery module and battery pack including the same

Abstract

A cooling member for a battery module, and a battery pack including the same, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes: a cooling plate including an upper plate and a lower plate; and a supporter disposed between the upper plate and the lower plate, the supporter defining a plurality of refrigerant flow paths. The lower plate has a refrigerant inflow part and a refrigerant outflow part, and a reinforcing member is formed adjacent to at least one of the refrigerant inflow part and the refrigerant outflow part.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A battery module system, comprising:
 a battery module; and 
 a cooling member on which the battery module is mounted, the cooling member including:
 a cooling plate including an upper plate and a lower plate, the cooling plate arranged to abut the battery module mounted on the cooling member so as to transmit heat generated from the abutting battery module to a cooling medium flowing through an interior of the cooling plate between the upper plate and the lower plate; and 
 a supporter disposed between the upper plate and the lower plate, the supporter defining a plurality of cooling medium flow paths, 
 wherein the lower plate has a cooling medium inflow part and a cooling medium outflow part, and wherein a reinforcing member is formed adjacent to at least one of the cooling medium inflow part and the cooling medium outflow part, the reinforcing member including a plurality of protruding members, 
 wherein each of the plurality of protruding members defines a linear segment extending between an inflow end and an outflow end, the inflow end being closer to the cooling medium inflow part than the outflow end, the linear segments being oriented obliquely to an imaginary line connecting the cooling medium inflow part and the cooling medium outflow part, such that the inflow end of each linear segment is closer to the imaginary line than the outflow end of the respective linear segment, 
 wherein the plurality of protruding members are arranged such that a respective angle formed between the imaginary line and the linear segment of each of the protruding members increases with increasing distance between the imaginary line and the respective protruding member, and 
 wherein the outflow ends of the plurality of protruding members are arranged along an imaginary linear alignment line oriented orthogonally to the imaginary line. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The battery module system of  claim 1 , wherein
 the lower plate is recessed in a recess direction away from the upper plate so as to define a receiving part, and the supporter is mounted in the receiving part. 
 
     
     
       3. The battery module system of  claim 1 , wherein
 the reinforcing member is formed at a part of the lower plate not covered by the supporter. 
 
     
     
       4. The battery module system of  claim 3 , wherein
 the reinforcing member is formed adjacent to the cooling medium inflow part, and the reinforcing member has a shape such that a width of the reinforcing member gets wider along a direction extending toward the supporter from the cooling medium inflow part. 
 
     
     
       5. The battery module system of  claim 4 , wherein
 an edge of the supporter adjacent to the cooling medium inflow part is straight, and an edge of the supporter adjacent to the cooling medium outflow part includes at least two portions that extend at an oblique angle to one another. 
 
     
     
       6. The battery module system of  claim 1 , wherein
 the plurality of cooling medium flow paths are parallel to each other. 
 
     
     
       7. The battery module system of  claim 1 , wherein
 the reinforcing member is integrally formed with the lower plate. 
 
     
     
       8. The battery module system of  claim 1 , wherein
 the reinforcing member is integrally formed with the supporter. 
 
     
     
       9. The battery module system of  claim 8 , wherein
 the reinforcing member extends from the supporter along the same direction as the plurality of cooling medium flow paths, and wherein the reinforcing member has a shape such that a width of the reinforcing member decreases along a direction extending from the supporter toward either the cooling medium inflow part or the cooling medium outflow part. 
 
     
     
       10. The battery module system of  claim 8 , wherein
 the reinforcing member extends from the supporter along the same direction as the plurality of cooling medium flow paths, the reinforcing member defining a plurality of the cooling medium flow paths, and wherein a distance between any two of the cooling medium flow paths defined through a portion of the reinforcing member is smaller than a distance between the two cooling medium flow paths extending through the supporter. 
 
     
     
       11. The battery module system of  claim 8 , wherein
 the supporter has the same shape as a receiving part of the lower plate along a plane orthogonal to the recess direction, not including the cooling medium inflow part and the cooling medium outflow part. 
 
     
     
       12. The battery module system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a second cooling member connected by a conduit to the cooling member, the second cooling member including:
 a second cooling plate including an upper plate and a lower plate; and 
 a second supporter disposed between the upper plate and the lower plate of the second cooling plate, the second supporter defining a plurality of cooling medium flow paths, wherein the lower plate of the cooling member includes a first cooling medium inflow part and a first cooling medium outflow part, wherein the lower plate of the second cooling member includes a second cooling medium inflow part and a second cooling medium outflow part, and wherein the reinforcing member is formed adjacent to the first cooling medium inflow part, the first cooling medium outflow part, and the second cooling medium inflow part. 
 
 
     
     
       13. The battery module system of  claim 12 , wherein
 an edge of the supporter adjacent to the first cooling medium inflow part, an edge of the supporter adjacent to the first cooling medium outflow part, and an edge of the second supporter adjacent to the second cooling medium inflow part are each straight, and wherein an edge of the second supporter adjacent to the second cooling medium outflow part includes at least two portions that extend at an oblique angle to one another. 
 
     
     
       14. A battery pack including the battery module system of  claim 1 . 
     
     
       15. The battery module system of  claim 1 , further comprising a thermal transmitting pad positioned on the upper plate of the cooling member. 
     
     
       16. The battery module system of  claim 15 , wherein the thermal transmitting pad includes a silicon material or an acryl material.